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Prostitute professor unrepentant

A part-time professor who admits that he also works as a prostitute will be back in class on Monday. Gerald Hannon, an instructor at Toronto's Ryerson Polytechnic University was suspended at the end of November for two investigations into his conduct.

The first was launched in response to allegations that Mr Hannon, the author of a 1977 article entitled Men Loving Boys Loving Men, was "espousing his views on paedophilia in the classroom". The university found that Mr Hannon, who teaches journalism, did not breach the limits of academic freedom.

But the second investigation found Mr Hannon had gone too far. It was initiated after Mr Hannon gave a frank interview to the brash daily, the Toronto Sun. The university investigator determined that the outspokenness in the article "constituted conduct unbefitting the status of a member of the teaching community of an academic institution".

He now has a letter of reprimand in his file and will remain a member - at least until his contract ends this May - of a university that has officially called his views abhorrent.

"For many of us, Gerald Hannon has provided a direct challenge to our most deeply held beliefs regarding academic freedom and the private vs public conduct of a university instructor," admitted Ryerson president Claude Lajeuness.

Mr Hannon, 51, says he will continue to moonlight as a male prostitute and air his views on sexuality. "I enjoy being a prostitute . . . I sell my brain for educational services so I can't see why I can't sell my body for sexual ones," he said.

He plans to protest over the disciplinary letter through his union. "I can not accept any restraint on my ability to talk on any topic," he said.

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